The Reason Foundation is a libertarian public policy think tank that promotes individual liberty, free markets, and limited government. ¹ The Reason Foundation advocates for consumer freedom, school choice, and government reform. ²

The Reason Foundation publishes Reason magazine and produces the ReasonTV web video series. ³

The Reason Foundation is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of free-market state-level policy organizations. ⁴ While the Reason Foundation is non-partisan, members of its staff and board have affiliations with the Republican Party.

Activity

The Reason Foundation advocates for consumer freedom and against potential bans on e-cigarettes, flavored vaping devices, and menthol cigarettes. The Reason Foundation claims that bans on e-cigarettes could prevent smokers from switching to safer alternatives and that bans on flavored vaping devices will not necessary improve public health and could lead to the creation of an illicit market. ⁵ Along with other civil rights and criminal justice reform organizations including the left-progressive American Civil Liberties Union Reason Foundation opposes a U.S. Food and Drug Administration ban on menthol cigarettes. These groups claim that a ban will ultimately lead to criminalization, which will disproportionately impact people of color, and deprioritize public health concerns. ⁶

The Reason Foundation advocates for school choice and believes students should be funded directly instead of school systems. It asserts that school choice in the form of education savings account (ESAs) allows more families to access alternatives to education in monopoly government-run schools, effectively equalizing opportunities. The Reason Foundation also combats the assertion of ESA opponents, who commonly claim that ESAs take money away from already underfunded public schools. ⁷

The Reason Foundation advocates for government reform, especially reduced taxes and government budgets. The foundation opposes the Biden administration proposals to increase taxes, instead recommending cuts in spending and increases in the use of public-private partnerships to build infrastructure. ⁸ In light of the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response, the foundation also recommends that states, major cities, and counties should submit monthly cash reports in a standardized, timely manner to allow federal policymakers to better understand revenues and expenditures in real time. While some states and cities already provide these reports, the foundation asserts that if the country’s largest 200 state and local governments provided timely reports, improvements in data and analytics would lead to better decision-making in the event of another financial emergency. ⁹

Funding

The Reason Foundation is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. The foundation does not disclose its donors, but tax filings confirm donations from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation ($1.7 million in 2017), ¹⁰ the Searle Freedom Trust ($905,000 in 2018), ¹¹ and the Dunn Foundation ($875,000 in 2013). ¹²

People

Staff

David Nott is the president and CEO of the Reason Foundation and former president of both the Institute for Humane Studies and the Mercatus Center.

Mike Alissi is the vice president of operations at the Reason Foundation and the publisher of Reason magazine. Alissi is a former director at the Nuclear Energy Institute. ¹³

Christian Barnard is an education policy analyst at the Reason Foundation who formerly worked for the Foundation for Government Accountability and the Pioneer Institute. ¹⁴

Jon Graff is the chief financial officer at the Reason Foundation and former consultant to Physicians for Social Responsibility. ¹⁵

Robert Poole is a co-founder of the Reason Foundation, where he is the director of transportation policy and a Searle Freedom Trust Transportation Fellow. Poole formerly served as a member of the 2000 Bush-Cheney transition team and as a privatization and transportation policy advisor to the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush administrations. ¹⁶

Marc Scribner is a senior transportation policy analyst at the Reason Foundation and a former senior fellow in transportation policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. ¹⁷

Board of Trustees

Stephen Modzelewski is the chair of the Reason Foundation and sits on the board of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public-interest law firm. ¹⁸

Thomas Beach sits on the board of DonorsTrust and the Property and Environment Research Center. ¹⁹

Baron Bond sits on the board of the Cato Institute ²⁰ and is a trustee at the Atlas Society. ²¹

Rebecca Dunn is a trustee at the Dunn Foundation and formerly sat on the boards of the James Madison Institute and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. ²²

Boyden Gray formerly worked as counsel to Vice President and later President George H.W. Bush during both the Reagan and Bush Administrations. ²³

Brian Hooks is chair and CEO of Stand Together, president of the Charles Koch Foundation, and former executive director and COO of the Mercatus Center. ²⁴

1. “About Reason Foundation.” Reason Foundation. Accessed August 13, 2021. https://reason.org/about-reason-foundation/.
2. “Policy Areas.” Reason Foundation. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://reason.org/policy-areas/.
3. “About Reason Foundation.” Reason Foundation. Accessed August 13, 2021. https://reason.org/about-reason-foundation/.
4. “The Network: California.” State Policy Network. Accessed August 13, 2021. https://spn.org/directory/#CA.
5. “Individual Freedom.” Reason Foundation. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://reason.org/topics/individual-freedom/.
6. Bentley, Guy. “10 Reasons Why the FDA Should Not Ban Menthol Cigarettes.” Reason Foundation. April 29, 2021. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://reason.org/commentary/10-reasons-the-fda-should-not-ban-menthol-cigarettes/.
7. DeAngelis, Corey A. “School Choice Myths Should Not Block Educational Freedom.” Reason Foundation. February 19, 2021. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://reason.org/commentary/school-choice-myths-should-not-block-educational-freedom/.
8. ^[1] Moore, Adrian. “Instead Of Tax Increases, President Biden Should Cut Spending And Use Public-Private Partnerships.” Reason Foundation. April 1, 2021. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://reason.org/commentary/instead-of-tax-increases-president-biden-should-cut-spending-and-use-public-private-partnerships/.
9. Joffe, Marc. “COVID-19 Pandemic Response Illustrates Need for Better State and Local Financial Data.” Reason Foundation. March 30, 2021. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://reason.org/commentary/federal-covid-19-pandemic-response-illustrates-need-for-better-state-and-local-financial-data/.
10. Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part XV, Line 3a.
11. The Searle Freedom Trust, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2018, Part XV, Line 3a.
12. The Dunn Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2013, Part XV, Line 3a.
13. “Mike Alissi.” LinkedIn 2021. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-alissi-36b6b610/.
14. “Christian Barnard.” Reason Foundation. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://reason.org/author/christian-barnard/.
15. “Jon Graff.” LinkedIn 2021. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jongraff/.
16. “Robert Poole.” Reason Foundation. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://reason.org/author/robert-poole/.
17. “Marc Scribner.” Reason Foundation. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://reason.org/author/marc-scribner/.
18. “Board of Directors.” Institute for Justice. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://ij.org/about-us/board-of-directors/.
19. “Directors and Staff.” DonorsTrust. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://www.donorstrust.org/who-we-are/directors-and-staff/.
20. “Cato Leadership.” Cato Institute. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://www.cato.org/about/leadership.
21. “Baron Bond, JD.” The Atlas Society. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://www.atlassociety.org/staff-trustees-and-authors/baron-bond-jd.
22. “Trustees.” Dunn Foundation. Accessed August 15, 2021. http://www.dunnfoundation.org/trustees.htm.
23. “Hon. C. Boyden Gray.” The Federalist Society. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://fedsoc.org/contributors/c-boyden-gray.
24. “About Us.” Charles Koch Foundation. Accessed August 15, 2021. https://charleskochfoundation.org/about-us/.